Reginna Scarber

GS: What degree did you/will you receive and when? RS: I’m pursuing a Ph.D. in Materials Engineering

GS: How long have you been at UAB?RS: 7 years. I received my bachelor’s from UAB in 2006

GS: What is your research? RS: Optimization and characterization of Bioactive glass nanofibers as scaffold material.

GS: What made you choose UAB for your graduate studies?RS: The polymers research in the Materials engineering department and the experience I obtained while at UAB through the McNair scholars program.

GS: Have you received any awards or honors?RS: CMFSDP fellowship, 2nd place in the 2009 graduate students research day, mentor in the ALSAMP program, and mentor in the McNair program.

GS: What has been your most rewarding experience at UAB?RS: The Materials engineering department encourages its students to do outreach to recruit high school and elementary students. I have had the most rewarding experiences teaching young students about Materials engineering and inspiring them to do well in school and one day go to college and hopefully beyond.

GS: Who was your greatest influence here at UAB and why?RS: Dr. Robin Foley who took the time to mentor and encourage me as an undergraduate student and was a wonderful example of a successful woman in engineering. Dr. Derrick Dean who always encouraged me to keep trying (no matter how many times the experiment failed) and helped me understand the joy of research, and Dr. Gregg Janowski who helped me think through my research and go beyond the literature review to find understanding.

GS: What is your motivation in your academics/research?RS: My motivation is to make my family proud and to be the best I can be.

GS: What are your plans after graduating and for the future?RS: I hope to get a job in industry or a post-doc at a national lab.

Reginna’s advice for other graduate students:Always keep abreast to what is new in your field of research - literature review should be an ongoing venture. Most of the time your research experiments will not work the first time (or second for that matter) but don’t get discouraged and keep trying, it will pay off.

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